JP2001149345A - Musculi ossiculorum auditus reflection measuring device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily measure a musculi ossiculorum auditus relection level by reducing an artifact without enlarging a part and without increasing the number of part items. SOLUTION: This musculi ossiculorum auditus reflection measuring device is provided with an inspection sound output means 4 for outputting a first inspection sound on the basis of an acoustic compliance measuring signal or a second inspection sound on the basis of a signal by adding the acoustic compliance measuring signal and a stimulation signal in an external acoustic meatus 1 of a subject by a single earphone 44, a sound pressure detecting means 5 for converting sound pressure into an electric signal by detecting the sound pressure in the external acoustic meatus 1, an acoustic compliance detecting means 6 for detecting an acoustic compliance value of a middle ear of the subject from the electric signal outputted by this sound pressure detecting means 5 and a musculi ossiculorum auditus reflection detecting means 7 for detecting musculi ossiculorum auditus reflection from an output change of this acoustic compliance detecting means 6, and the musculi ossiculorum auditus reflection is detected from the output change of the acoustic compliance detecting means 6 after a prescribed time passes after the inspection sound output means 4 outputs the second inspection sound in the external acousting meatus 1 by a prescribed time.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ossicular muscle reflex measuring device for easily measuring the ossicular muscle reflex level and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 3, a conventional ossicular muscle reflex measurement apparatus includes a measurement probe 101 to be attached to an external auditory canal 100 of a subject. The measurement probe 101 includes an earplug 102, a tube 103 for supplying air pressure to the ear canal 100, an earphone 104 for performing electroacoustic conversion of an acoustic compliance measurement signal, and a tube 105 for guiding the output sound of the earphone 104 to the ear canal 100. , An earphone 106 for performing electroacoustic conversion of a stimulus signal, a tube 107 for guiding the output sound of the earphone 106 to the ear canal 100, a microphone 108 for detecting the sound of the ear canal 100, and an ear canal 1
Tube 109 for guiding sound pressure of 00 to microphone 108
Consists of

An air pressure source 110 supplies air pressure to the ear canal 100, a stimulus signal generator 111, a signal generator for measuring acoustic compliance, an amplifier 113 for a stimulus signal, and an amplifier 114 for a signal for measuring acoustic compliance. , 115 is a microphone signal processing unit, 116 is an acoustic compliance detection circuit, 117 is a control unit, 11
8 is a memory, and 119 is a display unit.

[0004]

However, in the measurement probe 101 of the conventional ossicular muscle reflex measurement apparatus, an earphone 104 for electroacoustically converting an acoustic compliance measurement signal used for tympanometry, and an ossicular muscle reflex measurement Earphone 106 for electro-acoustically converting a stimulus signal used for
Are provided side by side with the tubes 105 and 107 via the ear canal 100, the presence of the earphone 106 of the stimulus signal affects the earphone 104 side of the acoustic compliance measurement signal, so-called artifacts increase, and the ossicular muscle reflex There was a problem that the level measurement was adversely affected. In addition, in order to eliminate such an effect, there is a problem that the earphone 104 for the acoustic compliance measurement signal must be enlarged.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and has as its object to reduce artifacts without increasing the size of parts or increasing the number of parts. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ossicular muscle reflex measurement device capable of easily measuring the ossicular muscle reflex level with a reduced amount.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a first test sound based on a sound compliance measurement signal or a second test sound based on a signal obtained by adding a sound compliance measurement signal and a stimulus signal. A test sound output unit that outputs a test sound to the subject's ear canal with one earphone, a sound pressure detection unit that detects a sound pressure in the ear canal and converts the sound pressure into an electric signal, and a sound pressure detection unit. An acoustic compliance detecting means for detecting an acoustic compliance value of the subject's middle ear from the output electric signal; and an ossicular muscle reflex detecting means for detecting ossicular muscle reflex from an output change of the acoustic compliance detecting means, The ossicular muscle reflex is detected from the output change of the acoustic compliance detecting means after a predetermined time has elapsed after the test sound output means outputs the second test sound for a predetermined time. It is intended.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an air pressure supplying means for supplying a predetermined range of air pressure into the ear canal of a subject, a pressure detecting means for detecting the pressure in the ear canal and converting the pressure into an electric signal, A test sound output unit that outputs a first test sound based on a compliance measurement signal or a second test sound based on a signal obtained by adding an acoustic compliance measurement signal and a stimulus signal into the ear canal with a single earphone; Sound pressure detection means for detecting sound pressure and outputting an electric signal corresponding to the sound pressure, and sound compliance detection for detecting the sound compliance value of the middle ear of the subject from the electric signal output by the sound pressure detection means Means, comprising an ossicular muscle reflex detecting means for detecting ossicular muscle reflex from an output change of the acoustic compliance detecting means when the inside of the ear canal is set to a predetermined pressure, Serial test sound output means is for detecting the ossicular reflex from an output variation of the acoustic compliance detecting means after a predetermined time from the output of the second test sound for a predetermined time.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Here, FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an ossicular muscle reflex measurement apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a timing chart of ossicular muscle reflex measurement.

As shown in FIG. 1, an ear ossicular muscle reflex measuring apparatus according to the present invention is an earplug 2 attached to hermetically seal the ear canal 1 so that air in the ear canal 1 of the subject does not leak outside.
An air pressure supply means 3 for supplying a predetermined air pressure into the ear canal 1; a test sound output means 4 for outputting two kinds of test sounds in the ear canal 1; The sound pressure detecting means 5 for converting, the sound compliance detecting means 6 for detecting the acoustic compliance value of the middle ear of the subject from the electric signal output from the sound pressure detecting means 5, and the ear based on the output change of the sound compliance detecting means 6 Ossicular muscle reflex detecting means 7 for detecting ossicular muscle reflex,
Control means 8 for controlling 5, 6, 7, etc., storage section 9 for storing various data, and display section 10 for displaying various data
Consists of

The air pressure supply means 3 is provided with an air pump or the like to increase the pressure in the ear canal 1 from -200 daPa to +200 da.
A pressure variable mechanism 30 that can be continuously set in the range of Pa;
It comprises a tube 31 for guiding the air pressure from the variable pressure mechanism 30 into the ear canal 1 and a pressure detector 32 for detecting the pressure in the ear canal 1 and converting it into an electric signal.

The test sound output means 4 outputs a specific frequency (for example, 226 Hz) as an acoustic compliance measurement signal.
And a stimulus signal (for example, 5)
00, 1000 Hz, 2000 Hz, etc.), an addition amplifier 42 for adding and amplifying a signal of a specific frequency and a stimulus signal, and an addition amplifier 4 for a stimulus signal.
It comprises an on / off switch 43 for turning on and off the input to the input 2, an earphone 44 for converting the output signal of the summing amplifier 42 into sound wave energy, and a tube 45 for guiding the output sound of the earphone 44 into the ear canal 1.

Here, a specific frequency (for example, 226H
The test sound based on the signal z) is a first test sound, and a signal of a specific frequency (for example, 226 Hz) and a stimulus signal (for example,
The test sound based on the signal to which the
Test sound. When the on / off switch 43 is turned off, the first inspection sound is emitted into the ear canal 1, and when the on / off switch 43 is turned on, the second inspection sound is emitted into the ear canal 1. Therefore, at the time of measurement, either the first test sound or the second test sound is emitted into the ear canal 1.

As the ON / OFF switch 43, a non-contact switch can be used in addition to a contact switch. Further, the stimulus signal can be generated only for a desired period by directly controlling the oscillator 41 for generating the stimulus signal by the control means 8 without using the on / off switch 43.

A sound pressure detecting means 5 detects a sound pressure in the ear canal 1 and converts the sound pressure into an electric signal, a tube 51 for guiding the sound pressure in the ear canal 1 to the microphone 50,
An amplifier 52 for amplifying the output signal of the microphone 50 to a desired level; a band-pass filter 53 for passing only a component based on a signal of a specific frequency (for example, 226 Hz) in the output signal of the amplifier 52; The rectifier 54 rectifies an output signal.

The acoustic compliance detecting means 6 converts the output signal of the rectifier 54 from analog to digital, and converts the sound pressure signal data output from the A / D converter into acoustic compliance signal data (equivalent volume). ), And the like.

The ossicular muscle reflex detecting means 7 supplies the output signal of the acoustic compliance detecting means 6 when the first test sound is supplied into the external auditory canal 1 and the second test sound into the external auditory canal 1 for a predetermined time. Then, a successive change of the ossicular muscle reflex and the ossicular muscle reflex level are detected from the difference (change) from the output signal of the acoustic compliance detecting means 6 after a lapse of a predetermined time.

The control means 8 mainly sets a desired air pressure in the pressure variable mechanism 30, reads an output signal of the pressure detector 32, sets the frequency and level of the oscillators 40 and 41, and sets an on / off switch 43. It outputs an on / off signal to the device, reads the output signals of the acoustic compliance detection means 6 and the ossicular muscle reflex detection means 7, and controls the storage unit 9 and the display unit 10.

The storage unit 9 stores the air pressure in the ear canal 1 and the acoustic compliance (equivalent volume) in association with each other,
The frequency and sound pressure level of the stimulus sound and the ossicular muscle reflex level are stored in association with each other.

The display unit 10 displays a sound compliance change curve (timpanogram) due to a change in the ear canal pressure, a change state of the sound compliance, an ossicular muscle reflex level, and the like.

The earplug 2, a tube 31 for supplying air pressure to the ear canal 1, and a specific frequency (for example, 2
26 Hz), an earphone 44 for performing electroacoustic conversion of a stimulus signal, a tube 45 for guiding the output sound of the earphone 44 to the ear canal 1, a microphone 50 for detecting the sound pressure of the ear canal 1, and a microphone 50 for detecting the sound pressure of the ear canal 1. Constitutes the measurement probe 11 from the tube 51 leading to the measurement probe 11.

As described above, in the measurement probe 11, since the earphones are composed of the conventional two to one earphones 44, the tubes to be inserted into the earplugs 2 are also the conventional four to three tubes 31, It can be reduced to 45 and 51. Therefore, the number of parts can be reduced, the frequency of clogging of the tube due to earwax can be reduced, and the measurement probe can be downsized.

The operation of the ossicular muscle reflex measurement apparatus according to the present invention configured as described above will be described with reference to a timing chart of ossicular muscle reflex measurement shown in FIG.
First, the ear canal 2 is attached to the subject's ear to seal the external auditory canal 1.

Next, when a power switch (not shown) is turned on, a specific frequency (for example, 22
6 Hz), a stimulus signal (for example,
The frequency is 500Hz, 1000Hz, 2000Hz,
Each sound pressure level is 80dBSPL, 90dBSPL,
100dBSPL). Then, the measurement is started after a predetermined time. At this time, the on / off switch 43 is turned off.

Then, a specific frequency (for example, 226H
Only the signal of z) is amplified by the addition amplifier 42, converted into sonic energy by the earphone 44 as the first inspection sound, and emitted into the ear canal 1 of the subject through the tube 45. The first test sound based on the signal of the specific frequency (for example, 226 Hz) is always emitted into the ear canal 1 of the subject when the power switch is on.

At this time, the pressure variable mechanism 3
0 is supplied with air through the tube 31 and the ear canal 1
The pressure inside changes within a range of -200 daPa to +200 daPa. The sound wave energy emitted into the ear canal 1 is reflected by the eardrum and converted into an electric signal (reflected sound pressure signal) by the microphone 50 via the tube 51 as reflected sound wave energy.

Further, the reflected sound pressure signal is converted into an acoustic compliance (equivalent volume) by the acoustic compliance detecting means 6 and is input to the storage unit 9 in correspondence with the air pressure in the external auditory canal 1. (DaPa)
It is displayed on the display unit 10 as a tympanogram having an equivalent volume (ml) on the vertical axis.

Next, the pressure set value of the variable pressure mechanism 30 is set to a pressure value indicating the maximum value of the tympanogram.
Then, as shown in FIG. 2, by turning on the on / off switch 43, the specific frequency (for example, 226
Hz) and a stimulus signal (e.g., 500 Hz) are added and amplified by the addition amplifier 42, converted into sound energy by the earphone 44 as the second test sound, and
5 is released into the ear canal 1 of the subject.

When the on / off switch 43 is turned off after the on / off switch 43 is turned on for a predetermined time, the first test sound is emitted into the ear canal 1 instead of the second test sound. Then, the ossicular muscle reflex detecting means 7 detects the ossicular muscle reflex from the variation of the output signal of the acoustic compliance detecting means 6 after a predetermined time after the on / off switch 43 is turned off, and the ossicular muscle reflex level is obtained. be able to. FIG. 2 shows a change in the output signal of the sound pressure detecting means 5 input to the acoustic compliance detecting means 6.

Such an operation is performed several times by changing the frequency of the stimulus signal (1000 Hz, 2000 Hz, etc.), and
The ossicular muscle reflex is detected to determine the ossicular muscle reflex level.

Further, without using the air pressure supply means 3, the on-off switch 43 is turned on and off with the air pressure in the ear canal 1 at atmospheric pressure, and the second inspection sound is emitted into the ear canal 1 for a predetermined time. It is also possible to detect the ossicular muscle reflex from the change amount of the output signal of the acoustic compliance detecting means 6 after a lapse of a predetermined time after that, and obtain the ossicular muscle reflex level.

As described above, according to the ossicular muscle reflex measuring apparatus according to the present invention, the ossicular muscle reflex contracting in response to a strong acoustic stimulus (stimulus sound) causes the ossicular muscle reflex to stop several hundreds in the recovery process after stopping the acoustic stimulus. It takes advantage of slow operation requiring ms. Therefore, if the compliance change due to the acoustic reflex contraction of the ossicular muscle after a predetermined time has elapsed after the stop of the acoustic stimulation is detected, the influence of the stimulation sound and the test sound output means 4
Can be obtained by eliminating the influence due to the fact that is constituted by one earphone 44 and the like.

[0032]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, since the test sound is output to the subject's external auditory canal with one earphone, artifacts are reduced and the ear is easily provided. Measurement of the ossicular muscle reflex level can be performed.
Further, by using one earphone, the number of components can be reduced and the measurement probe can be downsized.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the test sound is output to the subject's external auditory canal with one earphone, artifacts are reduced to easily obtain tympanograms. Measurement of the ossicular muscle reflex level can be performed. Further, by using one earphone, the number of components can be reduced and the measurement probe can be downsized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an ossicular muscle reflex measurement apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a timing chart of ossicular muscle reflex measurement.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a conventional ossicular muscle reflex measurement apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... External auditory canal, 2 ... Ear plug, 3 ... Air pressure supply means, 4 ... Test sound output means, 5 ... Sound pressure detection means, 6 ... Sound compliance detection means, 7 ... Ossicular muscle reflection detection means, 8 ... Control means, 9 storage unit, 10 display unit, 40, 41 oscillator,
43: On / off switch, 44: Earphone.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A first test sound based on an acoustic compliance measurement signal or a second test sound based on a signal obtained by adding an acoustic compliance measurement signal and a stimulus signal
Test sound output means for outputting to the subject's external auditory meatus with the earphones, sound pressure detecting means for detecting the sound pressure in the ear canal and converting it into an electric signal, and an electric signal output by the sound pressure detecting means An acoustic compliance detection means for detecting an acoustic compliance value of the middle ear from the subject, and an ossicular muscle reflex detection means for detecting ossicular muscle reflex from an output change of the acoustic compliance detection means, wherein the test sound output means Detecting the ossicular muscle reflex from an output change of the acoustic compliance detecting means after a predetermined time has elapsed after outputting the second inspection sound for a predetermined time. 2. An air pressure supply unit for supplying a predetermined range of air pressure into an ear canal of a subject, a pressure detection unit for detecting a pressure in the ear canal and converting the pressure into an electric signal, and a second unit based on an acoustic compliance measurement signal. A test sound output means for outputting one test sound or a second test sound based on a signal obtained by adding an acoustic compliance measurement signal and a stimulus signal into the ear canal with one earphone, and a sound pressure in the ear canal. Sound pressure detection means for detecting and outputting an electric signal corresponding to the sound pressure, and sound compliance detection means for detecting the sound compliance value of the subject's middle ear from the electric signal output by the sound pressure detection means, An ossicular muscle reflex detecting means for detecting an ossicular muscle reflex from an output change of the acoustic compliance detecting means when the inside of the ear canal is set to a predetermined pressure; An ossicular muscle reflex measuring device, wherein the ossicular muscle reflex is detected from a change in output of the acoustic compliance detecting means after a lapse of a predetermined time after the force means outputs the second inspection sound for a predetermined time.